The gutters ran with liquor and the fumes
filled the air.
To the rear guard of Lee's army under Ewell was left the task of blowing
up the vessels in the James, and destroying the bridges across the
river. The thunder of exploding mines and torpedoes now shook the earth.
The ships were blown to atoms and the wharves fired.
In vain the Mayor protested against the firing of the great warehouses.
Orders were orders, and the soldiers obeyed. The warehouses were fired,
the sparks leaped to the surrounding buildings and the city was in
flames.
As day dawned a black pall of smoke obscured the heavens. The sun's rays
lighted the banks of rolling smoke with lurid glare. The roar of the
conflagration now drowned all other sounds.
The upper part of Main Street was choked with pillagers--men with drays,
some with bags, some rolling their stolen barrels painfully up the
hills.
A small squadron of Federal cavalry rode calmly into the wild scene.
General Weitzel, in command of the two divisions of Grant's army on the
north side, had sent in forty Massachusetts troopers to investigate
conditions.
At the corner of Eleventh Street they broke into a trot for the Square
and planted their guidons on the Capitol of the Confederacy.
Pages:
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559